Back to online mode: campus joy short-lived for students, teachers

Schoolchildren head home as government decided to shut schools except for Class 10 and 12, for two weeks in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Credit: DH Photo

The government’s decision to suspend physical classes for all undergraduate and postgraduate courses from Thursday has upset the student community as well as the faculty and parents.

Students, parents and faculties are upset because the government had previously allowed unvaccinated students (classes 10, 11 and 12) to attend offline classes while suspending classes for those fully vaccinated now.

Another reason is, they are not comfortable attending online classes due to difficulties in comprehending the lessons.

“The offline classes resumed a few months ago and we were happy. Now, sitting at home will be difficult,” said a student in II years BCom. Freshers too are unhappy.

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“We lost even the pre-university college days due to Covid-19 and lockdown. We were expecting to enjoy campus life at least in undergraduate courses. Now, it looks like this is not going to happen,” said Kowshal, a first year engineering student.

The final year students are worried about the placements and exams.

“Our semester examinations are approaching in a month or two and switching to online classes will create lot of confusion. We will also be having our placements and we have to prepare for them. Doing everything online will not help us in any way, “ Nishchith A, a final semester engineering student, said.

‘Poor network’

The faculties also feel the same. T M Manjunath, president of the Karnataka Government College Teachers Association, said, “As teachers, we face many problems in conducting online classes. There is no proper network in colleges. The government should allow work from home even for teachers.”

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“Technical education cannot be conducted in online mode. Most of the things have to be dealt with in offline mode. The decision for online classes is a shock for us. But with the rise in Covid cases, we have to support the government. We request students to attend classes online. We will not be able to conduct practical classes,” said Prof Sreenivasa T N, principal, Atria Institute of Technology, Bengaluru.

The higher education department has said that attendance is mandatory during online classes and those who fall short of attendance will not be allowed to write the examinations.

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